About Us

Artisan’s Cellar was born from a trip to Italy with
my wife and adult children in 2008. There is no better way to experience
Italy than through the diversity of its culture and the unique charm each
region has to offer. The wines we tasted and the cultures and gracious people
we encountered throughout our trip truly captured my heart. I returned home and began
researching and tasting wines constantly, almost obsessively.

My family and I formed friendships with our guide in Italy, Amy Wadman, and many others including her friend, Summer Wolff. The following year, the two traveled to West Chester, Pennsylvania, and were guests in our home. We shared many late nights talking about tours, wine, food, family, and our experiences while enjoying some wines from their friend Fabrizio Iuli, which helped fuel our creativity. Our ideas and conversations flowed in a way similar to the 2004 Barabba we consumed: easy-going, fresh, complex, and persistent as they evolved for hours after opening. Within the year, Artisan’s Cellar was born, Summer founded Indie Wineries in New York and Piemonte, and Amy began producing olive oils at Costa Digiano in Le Marche. The connections we forged in Italy grew into lifelong friendships and enduring business relationships. I’m proud to say, Artisan’s Cellar represents both Indie Wineries and Costa Digiano to this day.

Founded in 2009, Artisan’s Cellar cultivates and distributes a portfolio of wines selected by eight national importers, our own hand-picked direct imports, and wine in a variety of formats. Our Italian selections, driven by tradition and the relationship between food and wine, have grown to represent nearly all of the country’s 20 regions. We have stepped beyond Italy into France to further our collection from winemakers who farm with respect for soil life and the environment, and produce wines without additives or unnecessary manipulation that focus on terroir and honesty. As we grow, we are continuing down this path into other regions including Spain, Chile, Slovenia, Croatia, and the United States. We built a new building, expanded our staff, and launched the largest keg filling operation in the eastern United States in 2014.

We’re grateful for the interest and enthusiasm you share for the wines in our portfolio. We pledge our continuous effort toward being your most reliable source to learn about, taste, and enjoy both old favorites and many new wine offerings to come.

Cheers!

The Team

Scott

Braunschweig

President

Scott Braunschweig

President

Scott founded Artisan’s Cellar in 2009 after traveling to Italy on a wine and gourmet-focused family vacation where he experienced his “Wine Epiphany.”

Scott grew up in Brookfield, Wisconsin, and earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Marketing Management at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He joined a leading manufacturer of CNC machine tools and received extensive sales engineering training before relocating to West Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1980, where he progressed in sales management over the next 12 years.

Scott founded Automation Solutions, Inc., a West Chester-based machine tool dealership, from scratch in 1992 and built a formidable portfolio of innovative products and services, becoming one of the Mid-Atlantic’s premier machinery dealers for nearly 25 years.

After his wine epiphany, and with extensive distribution experience, a keen interest in wine and fine dining, plus valued Italian wine contacts, Scott formed Artisan’s in 2009 and serves as President. With the help of our professional team, Artisan’s has assembled an amazing portfolio of high-quality wines from small producers in Italy, France, Spain, and other regions.

Artisan’s helped win approval from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board to distribute wine in kegs through the PLCB’s Special (Liquor) Order Program in 2012. Realizing the huge potential for keg wines akin to the craft beer industry, Artisan’s expanded into a large winery, storage, and distribution facility in 2014 to fill kegs with wine for national distribution.

Scott and his family live in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and they all enjoy travel, friends and family, cooking, and sharing wine and good times together every chance they get.

Miles

Basila

Winery Manager

Miles Basila

Winery Manager

Miles grew up in the Northeastern Pennsylvania town of Moscow, not far from Scranton. Growing up in a Lebanese household created an early interest in food. Spending time with his family meant spending time in the kitchen. Miles was given the opportunity to show off his cooking skills when he was hired as a chef at Lackawanna Station Hotel. As much as he loved working in the kitchen, he decided a more stable environment in the behind-the-scenes food world would be a better fit. Miles enrolled at Penn State University earning his Bachelor’s Degree in Food Science, hoping to land a job in research and development or quality control.

His first job out of college would end up evoking a brand new passion. Miles started working as a cellar hand at Mazza Vineyards outside Erie. Throwing himself into this new world of wine, it wasn’t long before he was promoted to assistant winemaker.

At the same time, an old classmate of Miles’, Virginia Mitchell, was working as the head winemaker at Galer Estates Winery in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. When she heard about the great contributions he was making up at Mazza, she put in a good word, and it wasn’t long before Miles made the move down and took a position at Galer.

With his experience operating the bottling line at Mazza, Miles was also able to help out at Artisan’s Cellar, as they needed someone to oversee their new kegging operation. Through research and hard work, Miles is now the Winery Manager and couldn’t be more thrilled to join the team. Miles currently lives in Newark, Delaware, and enjoys playing soccer, working out, and researching wine to expand his knowledge and palate.

Sean

Faeth

Director of Sales and Operations

Sean Faeth

Director of Sales and Operations

Sean began as a humble stock boy at a specialty wine, cheese, and beer shop while in college. Fate offered a chance to work the cheese counter for an additional $1.25 an hour and Sean jumped at the opportunity. As he dug into the particulars of the product, this promotion became a lifelong passion. Sean found that the minutiae of the history, production, and taste satisfied a deep-seeded nerdy desire for knowledge.

This experience led Sean to become the Maître Fromager at Artisanal Bistro in New York City, where he chose and cared for some of the most rare cheeses in the world. As he began designing the wine and cheese pairing flights, it became a necessity to learn all he could about wine, with its nearly infinite variety of flavors, textures, personalities, and factoids.

Shortly thereafter, Sean moved to Philadelphia to chase the girl of his dreams, who eventually became his wife. There, Sean joined Tria Café and worked his way up to running the cheese program for three cafés and the Fermentation School. Sean’s love of wine deepened with the broad exposure to new and unusual ones, and he continued to remain focused on how wine partnered with cheese.

Sean then moved on to become a manager at Talula’s Garden, which is nationally renowned for superior food, service, and wine. Being so passionate about the marriage of food and wine, he began to explore the role of Sommelier. Sean believes that wine and cheese can highlight and support the subtle nuances and structure of the chef’s food.

Sean is pleased to re-join the Artisan’s Cellar in his new role as Director of Sales and Operations, and he looks forward to assisting some of the best restaurants in town in finding excellent wines for their guests to enjoy.

In his free time, Sean enjoys cooking, hiking, arguing about jazz, playing guitar, and spending time with his lovely wife. He’s also somewhat partial to drinking wine.

David

Robinson

David Robinson

Wine Sales Consultant

David Robinson is a seasoned hospitality professional with nearly twenty-five years of experience in some of the finest restaurants in Philadelphia and around the country.

His career started modestly enough – Serving at such “iconic” institutions as the Spaghetti Warehouse and TGIFriday’s in the early 90s. To this day, David still cringes at the thought of ever wearing suspenders again.

The big move to fine dining came in the mid-90s - bussing tables at Striped Bass and Susanna Foo while still attending Temple University for Business and Marketing. It was during these early formative years that David first gained an appreciation for wine. It was the hay day of the boutique Napa Cab craze and there seemed to be no limit to people’s expense accounts. It was an intoxicating time to be starting in the “biz.” Needless to say, he was hooked.

From there, David moved on to the Starr Restaurant Organization for twelve years, including nearly seven years with world-renowned Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. He developed a taste for sake and shochu, and first began to experiment with food and wine pairings. David formed a true and passionate love for Riesling, which he still carries to this day.

It was also while working at Morimoto that David met his beautiful wife, Ronni.

The couple left Philadelphia in 2011 for seasonal opportunities on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, and from there, they moved to the ski slopes of Park City, Utah. During those two years out west, David got to work with some fantastic persons including USA Today’s Sommelier of the year, Cara Schwindt, at Stein Eriksen Lodge, as well as award-winning Salt Lake City restaurateur, Scott Evans.

After a couple of years away, it was time to return home to Philadelphia for wedding bells and new opportunities. David enjoyed several roles at the sadly short-lived Avance, as well as a turn as General Manager at a.kitchen. His most recent position has been at Jose Garces’ and Forbes 5-Star rated Volver in the Kimmel Center. Through his job as Wine Director there, David came to know the wines of Artisan’s Cellar. It seemed every bottle his Artisan’s rep, Justin Scappaticci, opened for him became his new favorite.

When the opportunity to join Artisan’s came up, David jumped at it without hesitation. Although new to wine sales, David has walked in the shoes of his customers for decades, so he brings an incredible wealth of knowledge and experience in all aspects of wine buying and high-level restaurant operations.